It was while listening to a special rendition of Joey Ayala in a Ted talk that ignited the visual creativity in Ben Albino for his first solo exhibition, Lupang Hinarang. Deeply alluding to his serious nationalist sentiments, Albino has been honed by his politics of doing editorial cartoons while studying at school. These twelve paintings reflected a visual wall hindering our moral progress as a people--constantly recurring for more than a century. 

One has to look long and hard--as they are gut-wrenching--armed with pun intended emanating from the exhibition’s title on our national anthem, Lupang Hinirang. 

There is an inherent tension when looking intently at Albino. Close to hyperventilation, one feels his sighs and utmost longings doing them in sober gray hues and on purpose--the drabness exudes as Albino grapples with greed as the overall theme arched on these twelve paintings.

-Jay Bautista